UMKC Offers the Beat – Jazz Beat of a Distinctive Kind

You won’t have to expend much energy to hear the beat – the jazz beat on the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s (UMKC) campus. The UMKC Conservatory of Music Jazz Festival and the George Salisbury Memorial Scholarship Concert will provide plenty of opportunity to experience jazz, the great KC commodity. The events take place Feb. 3-4. All day-time events are free and open to the public.

Bobby Watson, director of UMKC’s jazz studies program and the UMKC William and Mary Grant/ Missouri Endowed Professor in Jazz Studies, will host the event with special guest artist Howard Lewis Johnson, a self-taught musician, who has played with legendary musicians such as Buddy Rich, Quincy Jones, Taj Mahal,
B.B. King, and John Lennon.

The event is designed for middle school, high school, and community college bands and combos to perform for their peers, the community and local jazz experts and includes open performances by the participating bands on both days, open rehearsals, and a clinic by Johnson. The clinic will provide feedback on performances,
answer questions and share information relating to jazz.
For more information about the UMKC Conservatory Jazz Festival, please call 816-235-2741 or check out the website at www.umkc.edu/conservatory/cmda.

Tickets for both the Friday night Jazz Festival concert and the George Salisbury Memorial Scholarship Concert are available from the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222.

This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs.

Howard Lewis Johnson

Born in Montgomery, Ala., in 1941, and, in 1944, his family relocated to Massillon, Ohio. By age 14, Johnson had taught himself to play the baritone saxophone and the tuba. In 1963, after a tour in the United States Navy, Johnson moved to New York City and quickly landed a two-year gig with the legendary Charles Mingus. In 1969, Johnson formed Gravity, an ensemble featuring an unprecedented six tubas. Johnson was a member of the “Saturday Night Live Band” from 1975–1980 and was the band leader during his final year. His recordings (Verve) include "Arrival" 1994 with NUBIA, Johnson's Hamburg-based band; "GRAVITY!!!" with GRAVITY, 1995; and "Right Now!" with GRAVITY and Taj Mahal, 1998.

UMKC CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC JAZZ FESTIVAL
AND
GEORGE SALISBURY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT
February 3-4, 2005